Data on mental health of one of those killed in Gudermes sparks analysts' dispute

A mentally unhealthy person can be used for illegal purposes, an expert has noted in his comment on the information that one of those killed by law enforcers in Gudermes had suffered from a mental illness. Gennady Gudkov* and Igor Kalyapin, human rights defenders, could not recall cases when a mentally ill person was a member of an armed formation; and Svetlana Gannushkina* has noted that mentally ill people killed in a special operation were later recognized as militants' accomplices.

At night on March 29, sources reported an attack on a police post in Gudermes, where two men were shot dead by law enforcers. Several people identified the casualties as an uncle and nephew, the Chechen blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov has noted. According to the "Caucasian Knot", one of those killed by law enforcers had suffered from a mental illness.

Mentally ill people can be used in illegal actions, said Sergey Goncharov, the president of the Association of Veterans of the "Alpha" Anti-Terror Unit.

Gennady Gudkov*, a former Russian State Duma MP, a retired FSB colonel, has admitted that he had not encountered mentally ill militants. In the event of liquidation of a militant, law enforcers were in no hurry to report on the state of his psyche after the fact, he has noted.

Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*, said that in her practice there were cases when mentally ill people killed during a special operation were after the fact declared to be militants' accomplices. A mentally unhealthy person can behave strangely and even aggressively, which can cause law enforcers' concern.

A murder of a mentally ill person in a special operation must necessarily entail checks on the proportionality of the use of weapons by law enforcers.

Igor Kalyapin, a human rights defender, could not recall cases when already killed people were announced to be mentally ill.

"The fact that the casualty was mentally ill must be taken into account. Another thing is that the disease does not exclude that under certain circumstances the person can become deadly dangerous; and the policeman who shot him dead may have been right," Mr Kalyapin has concluded.